Uses of Time

On March 18 the delivery of the 7th Edition of the Barcelona Award to the Innovative Company in Management of Conciliation and Time took place. In this seventh edition, 24 candidatures were presented by companies and organizations that opted for one of the four categories of the award: micro (companies with less than 10 employees), small (between 10 and 50 employees), half (between 51 and 250 employees), and big (with more than 250 employees).

The award-winning companies were: Blueknow, MOST Enginyers, Mercabarna and Unió de Mútues. The Jury awarded CT Ingenieros de Catalunya a special mention as a member company of the NUST Network (New Social Uses of Time).

The award ceremony concluded during the Day ‘Moving towards a healthier, more equal and efficient work time organization’, took place on March 18, 2019 at the Modernist Center of Sant Pau. During the ceremony, Professor Maria Ángeles Durán, Doctor in Political Science and first woman awarded with the National Award of Sociology and Political Science 2018, presented the paper ‘Innovation in the uses of time’. Durán showed that the public administration, as well as associations and companies, have the capacity to innovate to improve the use of time and make it healthier, egalitarian and efficient.

After highlighting all the companies favorably and evaluating the measures presented, the jury, consisting of representatives of the local administration, the business and trade union sectors, and the university, cooperative and social sectors, agreed to award four awards and a special mention.

The award in the micro category (a company with fewer than 10 employees) went to Blueknow, for having implemented measures such as teleworking, flexible hours, training during work hours, the possibility of enjoying more holidays and considering the situation of the workers with children and relatives in charge.

In the small category (10-50 employees), MOST Ingeniers, was awarded for having implemented the European schedule from 8.15 a.m. to 16.25 a.m. with 30 minutes for lunch, making workers gain a quality of life.

The award in the medium category (between 51 and 250 employees) was given to Mercabarna for having implemented the intensive day in the morning throughout the year by the majority group with flexibility of entry and exit and at 37.30h per week on average. The jury valued the trajectory of the company that, concerned about women's access to the labor market and the generational relief, changed schedule of the fruit market from night working hours to day working hours in a sector as complex as the food one.

The award in the big category (company with more than 250 employees) was granted to Unió de Mútues for having facilitated, through their Equality Plan, an extended paternity leave to promote co-responsibility, a paid leave up to 10 working days for the care of dependent people and for having promoted a guide of benefits that every employee can access to.

The special mention of the award to member companies of the NUST Network was handed to CT Ingenieros de Catalunya, for having implemented the Work, family and personal work conciliation plan, a detailed and systematic catalog of measures for time flexibility and service policy, incorporating monitoring and evaluation tools.